Have we been forgotten about?

@DogMan79 @Bow @Jynx @MatchaToad

People seem to be finding it hard without psw around and maybe it puts excess pressure on us to "keep the forums safe."

I think for me it helps to redefine the forums as interactions with others struggling and see it less as access to peer support. I do not know if this is a transition phase or the new normal.

Does anyone know?

@EternalFlower @DogMan79 From my understanding and personal experience, posts with negative feedback do not fit with the Guidelines. I personally have had posts not approved as wording was or appeared to contain negative feedback.
knowing and having had experienced this, it leaves a lot of unaswerable questions in my mind regarding the context of this thread. Thus my comment about this thread only being visible to members.

my understanding, apologies in advance if I’ve got it wrong, is part of the latest changes, PSWs are now spread across and covering all services. This has resulted that PSWs have very, very limited time available to be on the forums. The new normal @EternalFlower @appears to be members being the peers who provide the peer support with moderators overseeing the posts, assisting if there is conflict between members, staffing the feedback/complaints area, sending email to members if there is concerns about a members safety.

some of the things I really miss was the weekly, brain storming and fun activities that the PSWs initiated, monitored and interacted with each post. The Tuesday Theme chats, Ice Breaker Time etc. they brought a different level of interaction and communication level into the forums. Activities that helped given people’s mind and nervous system an opportunity for a break from everything each person is dealing with.

3 day weekend this weekend due to Kings Birthday holiday. I’ve not seen any post this year letting people know who will be around over the weekend. Has happened other years, not this year. Another item that feels me feeling unsupported and that communication from high up to members is not deemed important. ☹️

Everything you said I feel is very accurate @Flutterbug9 I have felt rather puzzled as to why this thread has been allowed to continue. But oh well. Perhaps there are some people that run the forums also do not like the changes and is allowing this to be a safe place to discuss them? All the changes are coming from higher up and psw don’t have a say in what is done. Despite feedback having zero impact, there have been a couple of psw that have really encouraged members to lodge that feedback- it’s like hey we don’t like the changes either but can’t do anything about it but if enough of you complain then maybe just maybe. I don’t know. Just a thought.

yep, staff are now across all sane services and the ones that people sign up to and are apart of for that 6 mth timeframe are the priority, cause people book and make appointments. I’d imagine psw pop onto the forums when they have a spare moment between appointments?

I thought about that too @Flutterbug9 the public holidays. We use to get a post about who was going to be around. Thought about it at Easter and the Anzac long weekend. But there are generally no psw around at all now so no post needed.

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@Bow wrote:

Everything you said I feel is very accurate @Flutterbug9 I have felt rather puzzled as to why this thread has been allowed to continue. But oh well. Perhaps there are some people that run the forums also do not like the changes and is allowing this to be a safe place to discuss them? All the changes are coming from higher up and psw don’t have a say in what is done

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It wouldn't be because the link to this thread was sent to the HCC, would it? I don't think so. But I did include it in my letter to them earlier in the year. With a note to let SANE know that at least one poster in that thread has elevated it to external body

@DogMan79 @Bow @Flutterbug9 sorry my like is not working so i couldn't support the posts

it is sad that this is the new normal. I think at very least we have a duty of care to protect people here, and an unmoderated peer support space can't do that so easily, but i'm not sure tbh it is that different than before, it was indeed moderated, but some ppl eflt they weren't liked very much and experienced harsher moderation.

In terms of bringing complaints about the service to the service, i think that is more medical model than recovery model. PSW can include ppl venting about services without naming them.
Re sending to the HCC, I am unsure if they have the capability to really moderate an online space, also wher there are no clinicians involved. This is why I have become scared of peer spaces. There is no one to speak up to, and moderation doesn't have to follow any rules or guildeines, due to psw not being clinicians.

@Bow @DogMan79 @Flutterbug9 @MatchaToad i am a little concerned about being banned again, especially because I have spoken up vocally, I have struggled a fair bit recently and am unsure if that would work well for me, i need some support which is why I rejoined. Re this thread being allowed, i don't think its only availible to members, I was able to see it before I was banned, as I considered joining again and had a look arond. I don't know if thats still the case.

I feel most safe and comfortable at the moment with public mental health services, everything where there's profit and funding seems to end badly for me, and ppl take advantage of my vulnerability, or don't see me, then blame me if I say "stop." In some ways this just continues the ptsd circle.

In terms of what i needed from the community, I was worried abotu the risk of isolation over the long weekend, as I've had so much anxiety. Thanks for being here are my beloved peers. All of you rae amazing.

@EternalFlower SANE are government funded and answerable to HCC (Not Ahpra unfortunately) or equivalent in other states

@EternalFlower I’m sorry I gave the wrong impression when I said about who can view this thread. My comment was intended with a bit of sarcasm. I should have said, it feels like only members can see the thread.

I can understand your concerns about feeling safe, especially due to you having only recently returned to the forums.

Being aware of any type of injustice I struggle to stay quiet about. It ignites something inside me which starts a driving force that is very challenging for me to silence. It’s linked to this that I’ve reached a point I don’t really care about saying what’s on my mind and how I’m feeling, without masking.

tbh only things that have me logging regularly atm are this post and info on 2 other posts I have set up.

@Flutterbug9 i misunderstood, sorry

I saw this post when i was banned and looking to see if i should come back.

I had mixed feelings but reading how banning is a last resort with a focus only on abliest, sexist or ractist language i did not see how id ever crossed into such territoy or desevrd that severe response. I also saw other ppl were experiencing similar. I tend to personalise things and i felt it was just me going through it. Id struggled since approx july 2024 with queries of how properly regulated the space was. I was recently told that there have been new regulations although i am still asking when. I also reported privacy breeches with someone asking and lpenly identifiying my own treating psychologist.

As you woul guess, i was asked what i really expected from the forums and that question alone showed me that something irrelevant like my expectations could change the outcome of my complaint..after that i suffered even more and nothing was done.

Nothing to apologise for @EternalFlower .

I find I usually write lot of wording (some people maybe feelings it’s too much). On the reverse side, if I try to condense amount of words I say I tend to forget to include things or feel I’m not going to be understood. One of the aspects of my autistic brain.

Ive been reading through the Forums Guide today which were written approx 12years ago and came across this